


So, Two Grey Wardens Wander Into a Lair...

by danceswithhamsters01



Series: Reddit Prompts [97]
Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Body Horror, Broodmothers (Dragon Age), Deep Roads (Dragon Age), Dragon Age: Origins Quest - A Paragon of Her Kind, Gen, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:27:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24492745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danceswithhamsters01/pseuds/danceswithhamsters01
Summary: Based on a prompt from r/dragonage.Prompt 3: Your OC's reaction after seeing/hearing about a Broodmother for the first time.Sevarra Amell sees a darkspawn broodmother for the first time.
Series: Reddit Prompts [97]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1153856
Kudos: 3





	So, Two Grey Wardens Wander Into a Lair...

“I will not become what I have seen! Not Laryn! Not Branka!” The being that still mostly resembled a dwarven woman fled from the group.

Sevarra felt a chill travel down her spine. _As if this place could possibly get any more creepy._ She exchanged a worried glance with Alistair. “Did you feel…?”

He only nodded, swallowing with difficulty. That woman, Hespith, bore the taint. She didn’t “feel” like another Grey Warden, but she wasn’t quite the same as a darkspawn. Not yet, at least.

As the Wardens and their companions wound their way through the ruins, Hespith would say things, while being just out of reach and out of sight.

“The men, they kill… they’re merciful. But the women, they want.”

“They took Laryn. They made her eat the others, our friends.”

“They remade her in their image. Then she made more of them.”

“Broodmother…”

As the party made their way down a tunnel, Sevarra stopped in her tracks. The base of her skull tingled and then screamed a warning into her mind. _Darkspawn_. Exchanging a glance with Alistair confirmed it: their eyes had taken on an eerie pale blue glow, a reaction to being near darkspawn. Taking a deep breath, the Wardens soldiered on side by side. He drew his sword and readied his shield while she clung tightly to her staff, channeling a thread of magic into the focusing crystal at its tip. Behind her, she could hear the whispers of Leliana, Zevran, and Oghren drawing their weapons.

A guttural growling greeted the party as they entered what quickly revealed itself to be the lair of a beast. The mage felt herself freeze in place, eyes unable to look away. _That’s… that’s a lot of tits,_ she found herself thinking, just on the edge of screaming in terror when she saw the first of many glistening tentacles slither questioningly into the air around the pale bloated torso of… something that used to be a woman. Its tiny head turned toward the Wardens and unleashed an unholy scream.

The battle passed in a blur of weapons, spells, tentacles, terror, tentacles, hastily chanted spells of healing… and oh yes, more tentacles. After the party exhausted the beast, Oghren leaped with a roar and decapitated the monster with one great swing of his war axe. As the remains of the broodmother slumped over in death, Sevarra sank to her knees, wishing she could vomit but her gut held nothing in it due to being too stressed to eat for the past two days.

Hespith’s voice returned. The mage peered upwards and caught sight of her.

“That’s where they come from. That’s why they hate us… that’s why they need us. That’s why they take us… that’s why they feed us. But the true abomination… is not that it occurred, but that it was allowed. Branka… my love… The Stone has punished me, dream-friend. I am dying of something worse than death. Betrayal.”

With that, the dwarf turned away. Where she was going, the Warden couldn’t begin to guess. _Will that happen to me when it’s… it’s time for me to pay the Deep Roads a final visit?_ She squeezed her eyes shut and failed to suppress the shudder that racked her body. _Maker, I’d rather be burnt alive than let… THAT happen._

The clinking of plate and chainmail alerted her to Alistair’s presence. “Are you alright?”

_No, I don’t think so. I don’t think I’ll ever be “alright” again._ “I’m in one piece,” she said in a ragged voice.

Wordlessly, he offered her a hand, which she took, and pulled her back to her feet. Looking around and finding their companions busy with cleaning their weapons or applying bandages, he leaned down and whispered to her. “I don’t think it’d be a good idea to bring this ‘Paragon’ back to the city.”

She nodded in agreement. She turned and looked at the broodmother’s remains one last time. _Branka has to die. She cannot be forgiven this… abomination._


End file.
